Reviews

I am happy to say that a new ensemble, the Chalice Consort, is the second finest all-volunteer chamber choir I have heard in my 10 years in the Bay Area (I'll take perverse pleasure in letting readers guess the first).

In 1692, one Peter Motteux expressed surprise about having heard trumpets and oboes play elegantly during dinner: "Mr. Showers hath taught [the oboes and trumpets] to sound with all the softness imaginable ...

According to the bio for composer Mario Diaz de León in the latest program of the San Francisco Contemporary Music Players, heard Monday night in Herbst Theatre, he has achieved "fluency with a huge spectrum of musical effects, ranging from the most delicate chiaroscuro to the blinding intensity of the supernova, the black hole, and the eclipse." I have no earthly idea what any of that means.

There are times when it seems to me that you could drop a pail anywhere in the 17th century and find when you brought it back up that it contained enough first-rate (and, for the most part, completely unfamiliar) music for a season's worth of concerts. Needless to say, it's not quite so simple as that.

The Romantic era in music is not dead. The Paris Piano Trio brought it, alive and kicking, to Kohl Mansion in Burlingame on Sunday.

High-minded Herbert Blomstedt is in town for his annual two weeks with the San Francisco Symphony, fulfilling his obligations as its conductor emeritus. In his first program, he created a sensation Wednesday evening in Davies Symphony Hall with only two pieces — but what two pieces they were!

Donizetti's most effervescent music, a simple and heartwarming story, melodies galore — The Elixir of Love is a virtually foolproof opera. Small companies, even schools produce it successfully, and even in a big house, you can't really fault a "prudent" approach to casting young singers, not-quite-stars, and such.

The Oakland Opera delighted listeners Saturday with a double bill of Stravinsky's theatrical works, Histoire du Soldat (1918) and Renard (1916).

On Thursday, guest conductor Fabio Luisi brought a program to the San Francisco Symphony season that challenged performers and listeners alike. First he conducted Richard Strauss' multifaceted tone poem Don Juan, demanding a tempo in the faster portions as high as this month's Investor Panic index. Could the orchestra hold on?

The Berkeley Symphony Orchestra is in the second year of its search for a music director to succeed Kent Nagano, who has led the orchestra since 1978.